A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

non-North Americans participated in the sessions. 43 The program was planned to meet the needs of the entire Mennonite brotherhood. Beginning with Bible study in the morning, the conference 398 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH moved through formal lectures to an early afternoon lecture and response presentation to discussion sessions according to special interests, to the inspirational messages of the evening. Each day was concluded with a brief devotional meditation." Mennonite Brethren were again deeply involved, not only in the program, but also in the planning of this conference. C. J. Rempel, a lay leader from the Kitchener M. B. Church served as secretary of the committee for local arrangements. Approximately one dozen M.B. members (including one sister!) participated in the program by giving lectures, reports, or Bible studies. The Eighth Mennonite World Conference was again held on European soil, namely in the historic city of Amsterdam. Here the spiritual heirs of Menno Simons gathered for a full week of fellowship and discussions during the last week of July, 1967. Although attendance was not as high as in Kitchener five years earlier, representation was wider than ever before and included many delegates from the Third World with a non-ethnic Mennonite background. From the roll call on opening night it appeared that representatives from the following thirty countries were present: Asia — Indonesia, India, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam; Africa — Algeria, Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rhodesia, Tanzania; Latin America — Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay; North America — Canada, United States; Europe — Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland. 1 6 Greetings were also received from churches in three additional countries — Russia, Somalia, and Puerto Rico. The international character of this inter-Mennonite gathering was also evidenced by the fact that provision had been made for four official conference languages: French, Dutch, German, and English. Simultaneous translation facilities were available in all meeting rooms except the large hall where the plenary sessions were held. For the plenary sessions all papers presented had previously been translated and mimeographed in the three languages other than the one used by the speaker. Since 1952 every Mennonite World Conference has also issued a conference statement or message to the Mennonite congregations of the world. In view of the great diversity in historical background and also in theological perspective, it was not easy to arrive at a consensus on the content of such a message. Increasingly, however, the messages have been Christ-centered, emphasizing the central truths of the Gospel. The 1962 statement begins with this paragraph: Jesus Christ is Lord. He is the Eternal Word, the only Son of God, who entered into history to become man, took